Pages

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

As you know I've been working on primping my dining room over the summer.

I've been busy painting walls, trim, chairs and a dresser for the room. Still a couple things that I want to change in the future like the blinds and carpet, but those just aren't in the budget right now.

If you remember the room liked like this when we toured the house.Then we moved in and it looked like this.

I just wasn't "in love" with it and decided it needed a few changes.

Here is my dining room now.

If you missed any of my dining room projects along the way you can find them below.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I am happy to report that the first day school was a success for my kids yesterday! Besides being a little tired they were ready to start day 2 today.

Today I am going to share some ways I stay organized for school.

Last year I knew I needed to do something different as far as packing lunches went. I was scrambling every morning trying to throw lunches together for three kids. I decided to dedicate one drawer in our kitchen to school lunches. Having everything {except refrigerated items} together in one place saves me so much time.

Here is what my lunch drawer looks like...

My youngest loves getting notes from mom in her lunch. I found these free printables here.

I also prepackage my fruit in small containers so I can just grab it out of the refrigerator in the morning.

To save money on packed lunches I always buy what is on sale that week.

For example this week Kroger had goldfish crackers on sale for $1.00 so I stocked up on them.

They also had Nature Valley protein bars on sale for $1.99. I used coupons and got mine for .99 a box.

I also buy my sandwich and snack baggies at the dollar store.

I would love hearing from you if you have tips on organizing or saving when it comes to packing those school lunches!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Sorry I wasn't around much last week, but I wanted to spend what was left of summer break with my children.

Today was our first day of school {boo hoo}. I am always emotional the first day, but then I remember how much I can accomplish with the kids gone all day. Plus, I can finally get my house clean and organized again!

I just wanted to share some photos I shot this weekend after my daughter's soccer game. Since my kids are getting older they are growing tired of my endless photo sessions and I am finding it harder to get good pics of them. I was so happy with these photos I decided to come home and edit them right away.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

I can't believe that summer break is almost over. My kids start school a week from today {sniff sniff}.

Even though the kids are a little bummed to have to get back to their school schedule {early mornings, early bedtimes, and homework}, they are also excited to meet all their new teachers and catch up with friends.

So with school on the brain today I thought I would share some fun school inspired ideas!It would be so much fun to host a back to school party for the kids and their friends!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Back to school shopping in our home is an exciting event. My kids love picking out new backpacks, clothing, and of course new shoes. As an one income family with three school age children back-to-school shopping can be expensive and I'm always looking for ways to save money.

Famous Footwear is currently offering an awesome back-to-school promotion - 15% off plus BOGO {buy one, get one half off}. If you are a customer rewards member or sign up to become a rewards member you get 20% off plus BOGO. The rewards program allows you 1 point for every $1 you spend in the store or online. You accumulate points to earn certificates of up to $100 a year.

Make sure to print your Famous Footwear coupon for big savings. Coupon can be redeemed between 8/2 - 8/18. Remember you can also shop online at www.famous.com and have your order shipped to any store for free pick-up.

This year I am actually excited to take the kiddos shoe shopping with my Famous Footwear coupon! This will help take some of the financial pressure off our family so I'm not constantly figuring out prices and what we can afford to buy. I am also looking forward to shopping at Famous Footwear because I know they have hundreds of brands and thousands of styles to chose from. I know even my picky kids will find something they love! The stores are also easy to shop in, we can get in and out quickly which means no whinning kids and no overwhelmed mom!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

My dining room is currently a "work in progress". I've been working away at it during my free time and I'm happy to say that it is ALMOST complete!

The other day I was able to recover all six of my dining chairs.

Before they were covered in black faux leather. It might not have looked great, but was super practical. At our old house this was in our kitchen and with three kids having fabric on the chairs wasn't really an option.

Now that we've moved to our new home and this set is in our seldom used dining room I figured it was safe to recover them in fabric.

Here is what they looked like before...

Here is what they look like now...

I love how doing something so simple and inexpensive changes the entire feeling of the room.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

This past May I picked up this ugly duckling dresser at a garage sale for $10.00.

She was in desperate need of a makeover, but I feel in love with the shape and knew it would be the perfect size for our dining room.

However, she sat in our garage for most of May, all of June, and all the July. I walked by her {yes, in my mind it's a she} everyday and began to second guess myself. "What was I thinking, look at all those scratches, this might be too much work for me".

Finally, last week I decided it was now or never and got to work.

Here she is today...

Brace yourself for the before...

I started by removing all the hardware and the "fancy things" on the top drawer and very bottom.

I gave it a good sanding and cleaning.

I used a spray primer made for plastic outdoor furniture since this piece has a veneer like finish.

Since I wanted stripes on the top I spray painted the entire top blue. Then I measured and marked my stripes with painters tape.

Then I gave the piece several coats of white paint {about three}.

Since she does have some dings and scratches on her I decided to go with it and sanded off some of the white paint afterwards for a distressed look.

Lastly, I spray painted the original hardware. Not sure if I'll keep the hardware or not it's a little ornate. I might look for something else down the road.

I'm so happy that I finally fixed her up. Now she looks fabulous in my "work in progress" dining room!

Follow the link above to their website and pin this picture to Pinterest. Then have some fun and go PIN CRAZY and pin items from Overstock to your board. Then enter your board in the drawing which takes place on August 13th for your chance to win a $4,500 Overstock gift card. Sweepstakes is open until August 10th!

Here are some items from Overstock that I would love to get my hands on!